Speaking from the Train – Part 1

Sunset Limited Stop in El Paso, Texas

All aboard! All aboard the Sunset Limited! I’m not speaking from the Ranch today. I am speaking from Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, passenger train service from New Orleans, Louisiana to Los Angeles, California. This vacation was more about the journey than the destination. Our objective was to relax with little hassle, no sitting around airports or driving long distances. A few hours after we de-trained in LA, we got back on the train and came home to Houston.

The service used to run from Orlando, Florida but parts of the track east of New Orleans washed out during Hurricane Katrina. The track has not been replaced. We heard rumors from other passengers that the track, if rebuilt, may be further inland to avoid another washout in the next hurricane. Since the tracks are owned by the freight lines and not Amtrak, the decision of where to put the line is out of Amtrak’s hands.

Our Sleepliner "Room"

We boarded in Houston and the train pulled out of the station at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday. We booked a “sleepliner” room with the deluxe accommodations all the way to LA and back. “Deluxe” is a relative term in two ways: 1) relative to coach, it is deluxe, and 2) the quarters are so tight, I advise only sharing a sleeper with a spouse or very close relative, because you will be close one way of the other! When we boarded, the room was set up for sleeping with the couch pulled out into a bed, which took up most of the room. The room was barely big enough for one person to turn around much less two. The first night was hot and miserable. It turns out the air conditioner compressor for half of our car froze during the night, thus no cold air. Our room never cooled off as we crossed the deserts of the southwestern U.S. in August with temperatures above 100 degrees F, so late the next day, the porter arranged for us to stay in another room. I think he was just tired of hearing us complain.

After stopping in San Antonio at 2 a.m. on Wednesday to pick-up more passengers, the train chugged out across West Texas to El Paso where we woke up on Thursday. The scenery out there is interesting, I like it. What I found interesting about the vegetation is how it changed as we moved west and the mix of colors. The grass was mostly light brown or yellow, sage brush was a silvery grey-green while the yucca, mesquite and huisache were darker green. The retama trees had nice yellow flowers. The further west we travelled, the smaller and more compact the vegetation. The soil became sandier. By the time we got to New Mexico and Arizona, the vegetation was mostly scrub of some short, low to the ground with some patches of grass. No trees, not even mesquite.

Old Telephone Line with Glass Insulators

Through much of West Texas, an old telephone line followed the train track. The line was not used anymore and most of it did not have any line strung at all. Many of the poles still had the old blue and clear glass insulators on the cross post. These glass insulators are now sold in antique shops from 99 cents to $30 a piece. Some must be more rare and worth more than others. I have two at home that I used as bookends for years. I suppose the reason those along the track are still peacefully sitting on the poles is due to the remoteness of the area and difficulty of getting to them. The train track and telephone line were not always right along the highway so someone would have the hike a distance from the road to the poles. The would be glass insulator collector would contend with all the prickly and poking things of the desert – yucca, mesquite brush, prickly pear cactus and desert critters just to get close to pole. We tried to get some photos which were difficult to do from a speeding train.

We did not see much wildlife on the entire trip, just a few deer, some antelope, and a rabbit hopping into the brush as well as a few hawks and other birds. The train probably scarred most of the wildlife away from view. The bulk of the wildlife was spotted roaming, grazing and sleeping in the train station, Union Station, in Los Angeles – the two-legged kind of wildlife which is fascinating to watch!